Boy band mogul Pearlman sentenced to 25 years

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Boy band mogul Lou Pearlman,
who launched Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, was sentenced to 25
years in prison on Wednesday for swindling investors and major
U.S. banks out of more than $300 million.

But U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp gave Pearlman the
chance to cut his prison time by offering a one-month reprieve
for every $1 million in cash he helps a bankruptcy trustee
recover for his victims.

Theoretically, Pearlman could cancel his entire 300-month
sentence by repaying the $300 million debt.

His lawyer, Fletcher Peacock, said in a written plea that
25 years amounted to a "sentence to death in prison" for the
53-year-old impresario who lived a jet-set life of mansions and
luxury cars before the fraud scheme collapsed.

In an audacious two-decade scam, Pearlman admitted in his
plea agreement to enticing individuals and banks to invest
millions of dollars in two companies which existed only on
paper -- Transcontinental Airlines Travel Services Inc and
Transcontinental Airlines Inc.

He won investors' confidence with fake financial statements
created by a fictitious accounting firm.

During sentencing, Sharp held up a book with letters from
Pearlman's victims, saying they included "his family, his close
friends and people in their 70s and 80s who have lost their
life savings."

"So the sympathy factor doesn't run high with the court,"
the judge said.
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